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HISTORICAL SKETCH 



OF THE 



Town of Watertown 

Commemorating the Two Hundred 

and Seventy-fifth Anniversary 

of its Settlement as an 

English Colony 



EMBRACING A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE LIMITS 

OF THE TOWN AND THE HISTORY OF THE 

OLD MILL AND THE GREAT BRIDGE 







Boston, Mass. 
press of murray and emery company 

1906 



47363-1 



-^ \x '- 



SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF WATERTOWN. 



The town of Watertown has just passed another quarter- 
century milestone of its history. It is eminently fitting that 
it should take note of the fact. Faith in its noble origin, its 
progressive life, its promising future alike commend a brief 
retrospect of its course so far and an attempt to learn from its 
progress to this point what its onward course may be made. 
Clearness of vision is of no greater value to the engineer who is 
laying out the line of a great railway into an undeveloped 
covmtry than to the men of affairs who are shaping the policy 
of a civic community in the early stages of its growth. 

Watertown although two hundred and seventy-five years 
from its first settlement as an English colony is yet in the 
condition of undeveloped youth. Its natural advantages 
although early recognized in embryo have not begun to be 
reahzed in their possible relations. 

Let us recount to ourselves some of the facts accomplished, 
look over the new works now being undertaken that show still 
the fresh spirit of enterprise natural to a vigorous youth, and 
take heart for newer and broader and greater efforts for the 
future. 

Possibly it will be found that ihere is profitable employment 
for the farthest-sighted among us as well as for the skill and the 
labor of the humblest dweller within our borders in doing his 
level best in developing the possibilities of the town as a 
delightful residence, a beautiful home of culture and refine- 
ment for those engaged in the great life of a great intellectual 
and business center in this corner of our growing country. 

The river running through our town was first called Charles 
River by John Smith who made a voyage along our coast in 
1614. He made a map which is preserved to us in which he 
thus named thi^ river in honor of Prince Charles, afterwards 
Charles I., and ihe country in this neighborhood he first 
named New England instead of North Virginia as it was known 



4 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

before. Stories about John Smith and the colony at James- 
town in Virginia are familiar to all. The causes of his 
want of permanent success there are not so well known. 
Writing home from Virginia, he wrote, " When you send 
again, I entreat you, rather send but thirty carpenters, hus- 
bandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and 
diggers up of trees' roots, well provided, than a thousand 
such as we have." Similar advice based on the experience of 
the first thirty years of that century had its effect upon our 
immediate ancestors and contributed to make their labors 
effective in the end. Most of those settling the lands of the 
Massachusetts Bay Colony were either men of property with 
their servants or the better class of men with some useful 
occupation as is shown by general accounts of the time or in 
such papers as Savage's Gleanings for New England history. 

Watertown was the first inland town settled in New England. 
Hundreds of vessels had for several years visited the shores of 
America for fish or to trade with the Indians for furs. But no 
permanent settlement of any considerable size had been made 
on any inland river. 

Plymouth settled ten years before was on the seashore. 
The charter under which Governor Winthrop, Dudley, and our 
Richard Saltonstall came to possess and occupy the country 
was issued by King Charles, under date of 18th March, 1828. 
The lengthy document, which extends over a score of pages 
twice the size of these, with much repetition and particular- 
ization provides that almost unlimited powers of government 
shall rest in the Massachusetts Bay Colony over "all that part 
of New England in America which lyes and extends betweene a 
great river called the Merrymack river and a certen other river 
there called Charles river, being in the bottome of a certen bay 
commonly called Massachusetts bay, and also lands lyeing 
within a space of three English myles on the south parte of 
said river called Charles river, or any and every part thereof 
. . . and also all the lands whatsoever within the space of 
three En lish myles to the northward of said river called 
Merrymack." 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 5 

After two years of preparation in England under the lead of 
the first governor of the Colony, Matthew Cradock, a wealthy 
merchant in London, active steps were taken to establish the 
colony in New England. During this time some ships had 
been sent over with prospectors and agents who landed at 
Salem. 

After long delays by head winds and stormy seas four ships 
with the new governor, John Winthrop, with Richard Salton- 
stall and others as assistants, and Thomas Dudley as deputy 
governor, came first to Salem, and afterwards to Charlestown. 
Eight more ships immediately followed, and two more in July 
or August, seventeen in all in this year, 1630. Some people 
went up the Mystic and founded Medford, and others par- 
ticularly those with Sir Richard Saltonstall, with Rev. 
George Phillips, came up the Charles river and landed 
probably at what came to be known as ' ' the Watertown land- 
ing," below what is now Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Here in the 
immediate neighborhood, finding good ground for tillage and 
for his cattle. Sir Richard established his home. Early he 
unde.took to provide a home for Rev. George Phillips, the first 
minister of the new settlement. 

To show something of the character of the men engaged in 
the undertaking, and its difficulty, we give the following 
quotations. Thomas Dudley, deputy governor, in writing 
home this first year, probably from Cambridge, after speaking 
of the hardship and dangers of their stormy voyage, and the 
fright caused by reports of French preparations against them, 
says " they scattered up the rivers," " They who had health 
to labor fell to building, wherein many were interrupted with 
sickness, and many died weekly, yea, almost daily." He adds 
" If any come hither to plant for worldly ends which can live 
well at home, he commits an error " " but if for spiritual ends, 
and no obstacle hinders his removal, he may find here what 
may well content him, viz., materials to build, fuel to burn, 
ground to plant, seas and rivers to fish in, a pure air to breathe, 
good water to drink, which with cows, hogs and goats brought 
hither may already suffice for food; but for clothes and bedding 



6 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

they must bring them with them till time and industry pro- 
duce them here." He calls for " men not of the poorer sort 
yet for years, who will come over out of religion's ends to help 
us in our good work." One of the ends was to christianize 
the Indians, another end to enjoy religious freedom. With 
all, as one can see, they hoped to better their estate. 

Indians. 

The country granted to the colonists of " Massachusetts 
Bay" was previously occupied, — sparsely occupied, — by 
roaming bands of Indians. When Saltonstall and his servants 
and those of the party proposing to settle on the Charles 
River came, they found a well established Indian village near 
the falls. There have been found abundant evidences in the 
shape of arrow or spear heads, axes, stone implements, of a 
former Indian occupancy along the banks of the river. We 
can well believe the story of the exchange between our early 
settlers and Indians of a loaf of bread for a fish, the legend 
preserved in the arms of our town. " The town was never in- 
vaded by hostile Indians," although " Watertown soldiers and 
emigrants contributed their full share to Indian wars and 
massacres in other places." 

The number of the Indians was not large at the advent of the 
English in New England. The number of Massachusetts 
Indians is seldom ever stated at above three thousand which 
number had probably been greatly reduced by pestilence just 
before, but they were numerous enough to have given our 
forefathers greater trouble had they not been pacified by kind 
treatment. The apostle Eliot, for instance, and those who de- 
voted their efforts to their conversion to Christianity and 
orderly lives, did their utmost to win their kind regard. 

The covetousness of the selfish, the grasping and over- 
bearing conduct of many of the early colonists, however, must 
have gone far to neutralize the good effects of the wise 
efforts of the rulers and christian ministers and their helpers. 
Still the " pally sadoe" set up in Newtowne never had to be used 
for defence against them; nor was that planned for this town 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 7 

between what is now Main and Belmont streets, Lexington 
and Warren streets ever constructed, although the people had 
been ordered to locate their houses there and some began to 
comply with the order. 

As confidence gained, the farmers gradually spread farther 
and farther from their first location. When some of our 
people had reached the fertile meadows by Sudbury River, by 
the spread of their settlements, it is true the train bands under 
Capt. Hugh Mason and others were called into action to put 
down the organized opposition roused by the growing jealousy 
of the native Indians to the spread of our encroachments. But 
who can blame the " poor Indians " for rising when, alas, for 
them, it was too late for them to defend their ancient heritage. 

The Limits of the Town and its First Settlers. 

The town at present is only about three miles in length from 
east to west and scarcely a mile in width. At first there were 
no definite limitations of its extent. By the settlement and 
organization of other towns it was gradually curtailed and 
hemmed in by definite bounds. Her people were agricul- 
turists. Sir Richard Saltonstall with Rev. George Phillips, and 
their companions, after their arrival from England, and the 
removal of the seat of the colony from Salem to Charlestown, 
probably before the middle of July of 1630, came up the 
Charles River, and having found a suitable landing and 
convenient fields for agriculture, brought thither their servants 
and their cattle, of which they had liberal store, and their 
goods and began a settlement, which afterwards (September 
7th), was by vote of the Court of Assistants, called Watertown. 
The vote — " It is ordered that Trimontaine shall be called 
Boston, Mattapan, Dorchester, and the towne upon Charles 
Ryver, Watertoun." 

The location of the landing first made and which continued 
to be " the landing " of those coming up the river for many 
years, was that shown on the map* of 1720, and is that below 
Mt. Auburn Cemetery and back of the Cambridge Hospital. 

*This old map is reproduced in Watertown records, vol. 2. 



8 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

This landing known some years since as Gerry's landing, a 
committee of the Cambridge Board of Aldermen in 1883 
reported was the original town-landing for Watertown, and, 
with the way leading from it, is mentioned in the early records 
of the town, soon after its settlement in 1630, and continued a 
part of Watertown till annexed to Cambridge, April 19, 1754, 
in a grant of the General Court. 

In 1631 Deputy-Governor Thomas Dudley looking about for 
a convenient place for a town for the traders, " a fit place for a 
fortified town,*' fixed upon a location between Watertown and 
Charlestown and called it New Town (about Harvard Square). 
Dudley and others built there. Governor Winthrop put up 
the frame of a house there, which, the next year, he took down 
and carried to Boston, which he probabl}^ saw would be a more 
fitting place for commerce and for the government. 

In February, 1632, three-score pounds was " levyed out of 
the several plantations within the lymitts of this pattent 
towards the makeing of a pallysadoe* aboute the new towne " 
(Cambridge), of which levy Watertown's part, the same as 
Boston's, exceeded all others. Watertown, at first, refused 
to pay the part assessed upon her because they had had no 
voice in making the order. This led to the appointment of 
two representatives from each town to " the General Court," 
and thus laid the foundation for representative government 
in America. In 1635 the General Court appointed three 
men " to lay out the bounds betwixte Waterton and Newe 
Towne," who reported, "It is agreed by us that the 
bounds between Waterton shall stand as they are already, 
from Charles Ryver to the great Fresh Pond " (by Sparks street 
and Vassal lane, nearly) "and from the tree marked by Water 
Towne and Newe Towne on the south-east syde of the pond, 
over the pond to a white poplar tree on the north-west syde of 
the pond, and from that tree up into the country nore-west and 
by west upon a straight hneby a meridian compasse; and further, 
that Waterton shall have one hundredth rodds in length above 

♦The line of this palisade is still marked by the old willow trees on Mt. Auburn 
street, also by those near the Longfellow place on Brattle street, and those back of the 
Agassiz Museum. 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 9 

the weire, and one-hundredth rodd beneath the weire in length, 
and three-score rodd in breadth from the river on the southe 
syde thereof, and all the rest of the ground on that syde of the 
river to lye to New Towne." These bounds were again con- 
firmed by vote of the General Court, 13th March, 1634. This 
act set bounds to Watertown except in one direction. The 
only possible room left to grow in was to the west and south- 
west. 

In 1635, by vote of the General Court, on the 3rd September, 
" It is ordered that there shall be a plantation settled, aboute 
two myles above the falls of Charles Ryver, on the northeast 
syde thereof.' On September 8, 1636, it was " ordered that 
the plantation to be settled above the falls of Charles Ryver 
shall have immunity from public charges as Concord had . . . 
and the name of the said plantation is to be Dedham." The 
same court ordered that " there shall be a plantation at Mus- 
ketequid, and that there shall be six miles of land square 
belong to it, . . . and the name of the place shall be Concord, " 
Thus the town of Watertown was limited on the southwest by 
the incorporation of Dedham, and on the northwest by the 
incorporation of Concord. 

As the lands of Watertown were gradually filled up and soon 
some felt straitened for want of room, they naturally looked 
westward towards the pleasant meadows along the river ' ' that 
runs towards Concord," and, greatly pleased by the prospect 
of possessions along that pleasant river, with its sedgy banks 
and its grassy upland slopes, finally petitioned the General 
Court for permission to go thither to found a new town. On 
the 20th November, 1637, it is recorded in the records of the 
General Court held at Newtowne (Cambridge): " Whereas, a 
great part of the chiefe inhabitants of Watertown have peti- 
tioned this court, that in regard of their straitnes of accom- 
modation and want of medowe, they might have leave to 
remove, and settle a plantation upon the ryver which runs to 
Concord, this court, having respect to their necessity, doth 
grant their petition." It provided what should be done if 
said inhabitants of Watertown did not, to the number of 



10 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

thirty families or more, actually settle on the land, — ordered 
that they " shall have power to order the scituation of the 
towne, and the proportioning of lots, and all other liberties as 
other towns have tinder the proviso aforesaid." " September 
4, 1639, it is ordered that the new plantation by Concord 
shall be called Sudbury." 

Thus was Watertown entirely circumscribed, and thus, 
although there are no very early maps, it is possible to fix 
quite definitely the entire bounds of the town as its bounds 
came to be defined. 

The external as well as the internal changes of the bounds of 
Watertown at different times are well illustrated by the 
admirable sketch map of Dr. Bond which is here reproduced, 

BOND'S MAP. 

" The accompanying map is intended to show the relation of 
Watertown to the surrounding towns; its original boundaries 
and extent, as determined by the Court; the overlapping of 
the grants made to Watertown and Concord, and the several 
excisions, by which Watertown became reduced to its present 
small dimensions. Also some of its most important localities. 

5, the homestall of Sir Richard Saltonstall, and afterward of 
his son Samuel; a, the portion of territory taken from Water- 
town and annexed to Cambridge in 1754; b, Dorchester Field; 
C, Pequusset Meadow or Common; d, the portion of Newton 
(about six hundred acres) annexed to Waltham in 1849. 
Nearly all of this was included in the ancient Fuller Farm, and 
constituted about two-thirds of it; e, Mount Feeke; m, Mount 
Auburn Cemetery; /././ " lieu of Township " lands; n, Nonan- 
tum Hill; p.h, Prospect Hill; S.R. Sudbury Road; x, the N. W. 
corner of Watertown, according to the original order of Court; 
y, the corners of Watertown and Cambridge (Lexington) con- 
tiguous to Concord. The lines marked 1, 2, 3, 4, denote the 
Squadron lines, or the dividing lines of the four Great Dividends. 
This mark [*] denotes the sites of the three ancient mills on 

This map and description are copied from Bond's "Genealogies of the Early Settlers 
of Watertown." vol. 2, by the permission of the New England Historical Genealogi- 
cal Society. The darker color is introduced to show approximately the present limits 
of Watertown. 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 11 

Charles River at the bridge, on Beaver Brook, and on Stony- 
Brook. The village or the center of the town is denoted by 
the figure of a meeting house. The four squadron lines on the 
map, appear to begin at the eastern boundary of Waltham, 
and they did so very nearly; but the exact line has not been 
ascertained in its whole extent." 

Whatever indefinite ideas its early settlers may have 
had previously to this, they henceforth, to obtain more 
room, must go beyond the bounds of other towns and 
settle in the boundless wilderness beyond. They asked 
for and received grants of such extraneous portions of land for 
special services, as after the Pequot and again after the 
Narraganset war. From the largest of such grants the town 
of Westminster on the slopes of Wachusett was largely made. 
In granting to the new town Concord six miles square, the 
General Court, from the want of exact surveys, unwittingly 
gave to Concord a portion of territory already included, as 
one can see by looking at the map, within the limits of 
Watertown. For this they later granted two thousand acres 
of land, located on the side of Wachusett. Henceforward 
the changes in her territorial possessions, like those which 
preceded, will be by division, by curtailment. Watertown 
henceforth, by division within, or by want of a common 
interest, suffers loss of territory, loss of inhabitants, which 
too often the people were, after long contest, too willing to 
part company with. 

The bounds of the town were hardly fixed before they began 
to settle the outermost portions in systematic manner. On 
October 14, 1638, it was " Ordered that the farmes granted 
shall begin at the nearest meddow to Dedham line, beyond the 
line runneth at the end of ye great dividents, parallel to the line 
at the end of the Towne bounds, and so to go on successively 
from Dedham Bounds," etc. The earliest map preserved in 
the archives of the State is a map of a portion of the extreme 
southwest corner of the town, next to the Dedham line, giving 
the location of Hnes running east and north across " Nonesuch 
Pond," which lies partly in Sudbury. 



12 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

This ancient map,* bearing the date of 1687, gives the lines 
in position with reference to this Nonesuch Pond, and their 
direction by the compass, thus determining the boundary line 
between Watertown and the north part of Dedham, after- 
wards Needham, and later still, the line between Weston and 
Wellesley on the south, while on the west the line in position 
and direction between Watertown and Sudbury, now between 
Weston and Wayland. By continuing this line in a northerly 
direction until we meet the six miles square of Concord, 
we have the early western boundary. Of course this was 
fixed after many measurements and surveys by committees 
appointed by the towns, but this remains substantially the 
boundary between Weston and Wayland, the eastern part 
of Sudbury, to this day. 

Division and Reduction of Area. 

" Watertown has well been called ' the mother of towns,' 
for out of her territory have been formed the towns of Weston 
and Waltham, and parts of Lincoln, Cambridge, and Belmont. 
Besides these contributions from her area, she sent forth col- 
onists to the Connecticut river settlements, to Weathersfield, 
Connecticut, Marthas Vineyard and neighboring new settle- 
ments in eastern and central Massachusetts, so that hardly a 
town in Middlesex County but has families which trace their 
origin to this prolific and enterprising mother. In 1636 it 
was the most populous town in the Colony." 

The boundary on the east, between Cambridge and Water- 
town, has been changed several times, always at the expense 
of territory of Watertown. At first, as reported to the 
General Court in 1635, it was near what is now Sparks street 
and Vassal lane, thence across Fresh Pond to a certain poplar 
tree on the northwest side; thence by a straight line north- 
west by west, eight miles into the country, till it met the 
west line between Sudbury and Watertown, or rather would 
have met it at an angle beyond and above Walden Pond, had 

*This is reproduced in "Watertown records," vol. 1. 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 13 

not that portion been cut off by the grant to Concord of six 
miles square. 

Separation of the West Farms, or Weston. 

Frequently during a period of many years after the appor- 
tionment of lands to the one hundred and fourteen townsmen, 
in 1637, the division of the lands at the West Farms was a 
source of disagreement and contention at the regular and 
irregularly called meetings of the town. 

The historian of Weston will doubtless show how delightful 
those fields were, and what objects of contention among all 
the townsmen, who had naturally equal right to some posses- 
sion among them; how many prominent men were drawn 
away from the older settlement to gain by occupancy these 
farms; of the remoteness from church privileges, and from 
schools; of the injustice of church rates and other taxes, 
which were spent where they could not easily profit by them, 
till finally, March 13, 1682-83, it was voted in town-meeting 
that " those who dwell on west of Stony Brook be freed from 
school tax;" and November 10, 1685, it was " voted that the 
farmers' petition should be suspended as to an answer to it 
until it pleaseth God to settle a minister among us." In 
1692 a town-meeting was held to decide upon a site for a 
new meeting-house, but there was so great excitement and 
such differences of opinion among the people, that the Gov- 
ernor and Council were called in to decide the matter. The 
Governor and Council were unable to please either the people 
on the " Farms " or the people in the east part of the town. 
In 1694, at a town meeting, the east bounds of the West 
Farms Precinct were fixed at Beaver Brook, but the General 
Court, in 1699, fixed them at Stony Brook. At the May 
session of the General Court the petition praying for leave 
" To set up the public worship of God amongst the inhabitants 
of the west end of Watertown " was granted, the farmers 
having been exempted from ministerial rates the preceding 
year. After long and vexatious contention the act for the 
incorporation of Weston was passed, on the first of January, 



14 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

1713. Thus there was cut off from the territory of the old 
town nearly half of its area. 

Separation of Waltham. 

The next reduction of area came with the incorporation of 
Waltham in 1738, which took about six-tenths of the lands 
left to her. Before Weston was incorporated that part was 
called the West Precinct (Weston), this the Middle Precinct 
(Waltham) and the eastern portion the East Precinct. With 
the incorporation of Weston the part now Waltham became 
the West Precinct. The incorporation of Weston took away 
about 10,372 acres, of Waltham about 8891 acres and left 
the old town only 3833 acres; this was less than a sixth of 
the area of the three precincts together. 

In April, 1754, a portion of the eastern part of the town 
was joined to Cambridge — all that part between the most 
northern bend of the river, near where Sparks street now runs 
and along Vassal lane to Mt. Auburn Cemetery. This took 
away, probably, most of the lands owned by Sir Richard 
Saltonstall and his early associates, the cluster of dwellings 
called " the town." The town of Watertown still retained its 
right to the wharf and landing on the river for a century longer. 

In 1859, nearly all that part of the town north of Belmont 
street was set off to Belmont, so-called. This was the result 
of a long struggle and a fierce contest like each other excision 
of territory and loss of inhabitants. By this act, fourteen 
hundred and forty -six acres were taken from the town. 

In 1704-5 a committee was appointed to find out the line 
between Watertown and Newton on the south side of Charles 
River. The committee reported in 1705 the line nearly as at 
present represented on the map on the south side, giving by 
estimation about eighty -eight acres. This has at different 
times been extended, till at present, with Water, Boyd and 
Cook's Ponds, it includes one hundred and fifty acres. 

The last excision of territory was arranged amicably with 
Cambridge, she buying the lands of the owners and paying the 
town of Watertown $15,000 for loss of taxable property for 



HISTORY OP WATERTOWN 15 

lands taken between Mt. Auburn Cemetery and the river for 
the Cambridge Cemeter^^ and authorized by act of the General 
Court, which tr;msferred the Winchester estate to Cambridge; 
also the road passing between Mt. Auburn and Cambridge 
Cemeteries. 

There now remain within the bounds of the town including 
Charles River, the marshes, the ponds, Mt. Auburn and 
Catholic Cemeteries according to the surveys of Henry Crafts, 
2668.25 acres, of about four and one-sixth square miles. The 
number of acres taxed in 1S90 was 2027, in 1905 it is 1882, with 
a valuation, including buildings thereon, of $10,265,500. 

If we had the space and this were an appropriate place, we 
might enter upon the personal history of the town, upon the 
educational, or the ecclesiastical history, or we might trace the 
change in the modes of transportation, the streets and by-ways 
of the town, the introduction of wheeled vehicles, of stage lines 
or their various substitutes — railway cars, horse, steam or 
electrical — the different modes of lighting the homes and streets 
of the town, the introduction of water for house use, or of 
sewers and other improved drainage, the new and improved 
modes of policing the town, the control of the liquor habit, the 
adoption of systematic district nursing and caring for the sick, 
the spread of parks and open air modes of pleasing and 
occupying the well. Any one of which if traced in its intro- 
duction and relations to the general life of the town would 
prove of wonderful interest to all. Any one of these topics 
taken up by the diligent student and followed out in its 
logical relations to the town's history would repay the student 
for the necessary research required, for in the town's library 
there are being gradually stored up works that contain the facts 
which would enable the careful searcher to re-weave the web 
which the centuries are weaving, far more interesting than 
novels, the flimsy tissues so industriously woven from the im- 
aginations of dreamers, which are now so much in repute. 

Fortunately, as we have not now the space or the time, it is 
not necessary to construct so elaborate a fabric to com- 
memorate the great advance of the last two and three quarter 



16 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

centuries. Any one of these lines of enquiry, or any similar 
one will answer as well. In view of the great changes in 
progress we will content ourselves in speaking more in detail 
in regard to the old mill and its rights to water power and of the 
life of the Great Bridge now about to be reconstructed, the 
history of either of which has touched at so many points the 
life and interests of the town. 

It would be interesting to name the early ministers in order, 
to note the introduction of new societies, to trace the history of 
the churches and the progress of religion in the town. This 
having been done by various clergymen, notably by the last 
town minister, Dr. Converse Francis, before division of church 
interests, and followed up since by others, it is only necessary to 
refer to his history and to the columns of our local papers. 

The genealogies of Dr. Bond, besides giving a most admir- 
able account of the early history of the town in all its relations, 
brings a wealth of information in regard to personal history 
and the relation in families of most of the town's former 
inhabitants. This work is more consulted by genealogical 
students perhaps than any other, partly from the research 
of its author and partly from the fact that Watertown's 
honored citizens have spread to every part of the country, 
and their descendants delight to trace back to our loved town 
their honored ancestry. 

In view of the fact that in this 275th year of our history one 
of the earliest institutions, if not the earliest, is doomed by the 
progress of events and the changes in manufactures and 
commerce and the interests alike of the growing population of 
the great metropolis, of which we are a part, in sanitary and 
aesthetic matters, we will give some space to the old mill. 

The Old "Corn Mill." 

The old mill is no longer needed. There is no corn grown 
here to be ground. Breadstuff s are prepared in the far West 
and brought to our doors. We can get a peck of meal from 
Minneapolis more easily and for less money than we could 
from our farmers if raised in town. The old mill must yield to 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 17 

the growth of a lawn with its grass and shrubbery and fresh 
air. We have always seen the old mill by the river. Our 
fathers and the farmers far and wide have always gone to the 
old mill with their grists. What is its history? What its 
origin ? 

We must confess it is clouded in mystery. Old accounts 
differ. No one speaks with absolute certainty. 

In the cargoes sent out from London by Governor Cradock 
in 1629 and 1630, were articles of apparel for one hundred men, 
leather coats, shoes, stockings besides stuffs for other clothing 
and for their bouses; food, seeds for planting as well, arms for 
defence and for offence, ammunition, tools to work with, iron, 
steel, also burrs and plaster of Paris for mill stones, etc., etc. 
Governor Cradock sent also farmers, carpenters, sawyers, and 
an engineer, one Thomas Graves, who was sent partly at the 
expense of the Colony and partly at the expense of Matthew 
Cradock to look out partly for his own private ventures. 

Dr. Bond says that " neither the exact date nor the builder 
of the first mill in Watertown has been ascertained, but it was 
probably built in 1634, by Edward How, at the joint expense 
of himself and Mr. Matthew Cradock." We have quoted 
from the " records of Massachusetts Bay " the statements that 
Matthew Cradock the first governor sent in the ships burrs and 
plaster of Paris for mill stones and made a contract with 

Thomas Graves, " an engineer skilled in iron works, 

and in leading water for mills, partly at the expense of the 
colony and partly at his own expense, and what is more natural 
to suppose in the absence of any statement that this engineer 
used these materials for the benefit of his employer and that 
some one else on the ground furnished timber and labor. 
The first mention of the mill in the records is that one-half of it 
was sold by Edward How to Thomas May hew in 1635, and 
the other half was sold to the same in May, 1639, by the agent 
of Matthew Cfadock. 

" It was built at the head of tide-water on Charles river on 
Mill creek, which was a canal wholly or partly artificial." 
" It is probably the oldest artificial mill-race or canal in this 



18 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

country that has continued in uninterrupted use." Its use 
has lately been discontinued as a mill, although an old build- 
ing, — not ve y old, — and the race-way remain. Before the 
building is destroyed and the race-ways are filled up some 
pictures and maps should be prepared for reference, so that the 
students of the future may understand the facts which are 
matters of observation with us. The mill, " the corn mill," 
was probably first used by the servants of Sir Richard Salton- 
stall, who with others from New towne beyond brought up 
their grain to be ground from the first town site near " the 
landing." The road leading from there to the mill is called 
" Mill street " on the old maps, now Mt. Auburn street. 
There have been on the site various kinds of mills. We have 
not its full history. It is recorded that in 1686 a fulling mill 
was erected by the side of the corn-mill. We find mention of 
a planing mill just back of the grist mill. There was also a 
paper mill by the side of the grist mill. 

In 1777 Hezekiah Learned conveyed to John Remington the 
ancient grist mill. In 1805 the grist mill building was 
extended seventeen feet and an additional story erected 
making four stories, and a water-wheel put in and power to 
run six hundred and forty-eight spindles with other necessary 
machinery guaranteed, for the spinning of cotton warps, 
Joseph Pierce, gentleman; Jonas Wood, miller; Uriah Moore 
and Enoch Wiswell, paper makers, all of Watertown, made 
deed to Jeduthan Fuller of Beverly, spinner, of space and 
necessary power. 

These warps were used by farmers' wives all through the 
country in weaving coarse cloth for clothing, blankets, coarse 
sheeting and for rag carpets. 

The water-wheel used was an undershot wheel which sup- 
plied the required power. This may be seen by the story of 
" a boy five years of age of a Mr. Smith's who fell into the 
water just above the mill. He was drawn by the current 
under the wheel ; there happened to be a board out so he 
passed through underneath and was found by the miller sit- 
ting in shoal water under the mill unhurt." 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 19 

This mill being the oldest mill on the stream had the first 
right to water. Few people may know that the rights of this 
mill have been the subject of much legislation and of many legal 
contentions in the courts. Few may know that it has had 
much to say about the quantity of water allowed to be drawn 
ofE by Mother Brook at Hyde Park from the Charles River 
to the Neponset which was finally fixed at one-third part. 
The town as the present owner of the mill and the water 
privilege must see to it that the proportion of the water to 
which it is entitled, especially when the water is low from 
a general drouth in the summer months, is not taken away 
from our water parks and led away by Mother Brook. 

Each topic of our history is connected with all other topics 
at many points. 

The population of the town at first was as large or larger than 
Boston. In the tax levy of September and again November, 
1630, the amount assessed to Watertown was the same as to 
Boston and larger than to any other town in the colony. 

The levy of 1632 for a " pallysadoe " about Newtowne, the 
first fortification of the colony against the Indians, was again 
Watertowne and Boston eight pounds each, Newtowne (Cam- 
bridge) three pounds, Charleton seven pounds, Rocksbury 
seven pounds, Salem four pounds. 

This proportion continued for some years, the relative 
amount charged to Watertown growing smaller as Boston and 
other places increased in wealth beyond the farming town of 
Watertown; but not tor four years, perhaps not for fourteen 
years, was the population of Watertown less than that of 
Boston. 

In connection with taxes, as we have before mentioned, 
the protest of Watertown against being taxed without repre- 
sentation led to the appointment of representatives from the 
towns and so to the introduction of representative govern- 
ment in this country. 

In regard to the government of towns by boards of selectmen, 
and in regard to the history of the Great Bridge, I can not do 
better than to quote from a recent address of the Chairman of 



20 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

the Board of Selectmen, Mr. Bartlett M. Shaw, given at the 
two hundred and seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of 
the First Church. 

He said, " Speaking for the Board of Selectmen, it might be 
fitting for me to mention the origin of this body. 

" Preserved in the vault at the Town Hall are the original 
Town Records beginning in 1634. If any existed previous to 
this time they were lost. These records at the beginning show 
that a body of freemen were chosen annually to order the civil 
affairs of the town, and thus originated that peculiarly New 
England municipal body, the Board of Selectmen. By 
referring to the original records it will be seen that they were 
not at first designated as Selectmen. The first time this title 
is found in the records is in 1647. The number varied, but in 
1634 there were three as at present. 

" It has been stated that Watertown has the distinction of 
being the first town to be governed by a Board of Selectmen. 

The Great Bridge. 

' ' On account of the changes which are now going on in the 
center of our town, necessitated by the widening of Galen 
street, the town has recently voted to build a new bridge across 
the Charles River, and has also recently purchased the grist 
mill and water rights, and is contemplating the filling of the 
canals. It has seemed to me that a review of that portion of 
the town's history which relates to this bridge and the water- 
way, would be of interest. 

"In the Town Records there is no notice of any ferry, but 
from the Colonial Records, it is found that the Court on 
November 5, 1633, granted a license to Mr. Richard Brown to 
keep a ferry over Charles River opposite his house. The spot 
where this was kept has not been ascertained. It was sup- 
posed to be a little to the east of Mt. Auburn where said 
Brown owned land. 

" The first bridge was built by Thomas May hew in 1641, and 
was supposed to be merely a foot bridge. No reference to this 
is made in the Town Records. The earliest reference to it is in 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 21 

the records of the General Court in 1641, when it was ordered 
that the toll of Mr. May hew 's bridge is referred to the Governor 
and two magistrates to settle for seven years. The privilege 
of a toll bridge was not granted, as appears by the record of 
the Court; for in 1643, he was granted 300 acres of land in 
regard to his charge about the bridge at Watertown Mill and 
the bridge to belong to the Country. 

" The granting of one hundred and fifty acres on the south 
side of the river to Mr. Mayhew was supposed to have been on 
account of this bridge. While in 1644, the Court ordered the 
grant of three hundred acres to be laid out to Mr. Mayhew, 
there is no record of its location. 

"It is evident that this was only a foot bridge, and although it 
was to belong to the country, there was no provision in the 
three hundred acre grant to Mr. Mayhew for the repair and 
maintenance of it, and very soon after obtaining this grant, 
Mr. Mayhew moved to Marthas Vineyard. 

" The earliest mention in the Town Records of a bridge over 
the Charles River in Watertown, was at a meeting of the 
Selectmen in December, 1647, when a committee was chosen to 
consider how a bridge over the river should be built, and to 
agree with the workmen for doing it according to their best 
discretion. This action of the Selectmen seems to have been 
upon the order of the General Court in May, 1647, when an 
order was sent to the town to build a horse bridge. 

" When the bridge was completed does not appear in the 
records, but on the 28th of November, 1648, the Selectmen 
ordered payment for the work done at the bridge. 

' ' The construction and materials of the bridge were so defec- 
tive that it was frequently repaired or rebuilt, and it proved to 
be a very heavy burden to the town. As it appeared in the 
grant to Mr. Mayhew that the bridge was to belong to the 
country, not to the town, the town asked aid from other com- 
munities, but without success. 

" It seems that between 1648 and the building of the great 
bridge in 1719, there were times when the bridge was either 
unfit for use, or was entirely carried away, which caused many 



22 HISTORY OP WATBRTOWN 

applications to the Court to reqviire Watertown to repair and 
rebuild the same. Several applications of the town to the 
General Court to have the cost and expense of the mainte- 
nance of the bridge maintained by Middlesex County, seem to 
have been in vain, as in 1716, the Court dismissed a petition 
finding that Watertown had maintained and supported a foot 
and horse bridge over said river upwards of fifty years, and 
ordered Watertown to repair said bridge, forthwith. 

" The foot bridge which had for many years been the only one 
over the Charles River in Watertown, having gone to decay, a 
question arose in a public town meeting on the 5th of Septem- 
ber, 1718, whether it was better to repair the bridge or to 
build a new one on the same or another place. A committee 
was appointed to consider the question, and in their report 
they advised to build one at a place further up the river. 
The report was accepted and the town voted that the pro- 
posed bridge should be a good and sufficient cart bridge for the 
accommodation of the public, and especially some particular 
towns. 

" This, however, was considered so great an enterprise, that 
they would not consent to undertake it without the assistance 
of the public, as the expense would be unavoidably great, far 
greater than Watertown and Wesion can bear. Weston hav- 
ing been set off from Watertown in 1713, was not relieved of its 
responsibility in the cost and maintenance of the bridge. 

" In 1719, the town entered into a contract with Mr. Thomas 
Learned and Capt. Thos. Prentice to build ' the big bridge,* and 
voted to pay one hundred and sixty pounds. Beside this they 
were to have what they could obtain from other towns which 
were interested in the undertaking. This bridge seems to 
have been regarded as the common cause of nearly all the 
towiis west of Watertown, tor a great proportion of the people 
from that quarter passed over the river at this point and went 
to Boston over Roxbury Neck. 

" The bridge, when finished, cost a little over three hundred 
and nine pounds, and was the first bridge for wheel car- 
riages in the town. The building of the bridge marks the 



HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 23 

location of the present bridge crossing the river on Galen 
street. The foot or horse bridge which had been used pre- 
vious to this time is supposed by some to have crossed the 
river at, or near, the old town landing. This first cart bridge 
was (Dr. Francis states in his history) within the memory 
of some then living, so narrow that only one carriage could 
pass at a time. 

" The bridge has been rebuilt and made wider from time to 
time during the past one hundred and seventy-five or more 
years. A vote was passed in 1734, asking the Court to grant 
some of the unappropriated lands belonging to the Province to 
enable the town to support the bridge, and in 1744, in con- 
nection with Weston and Waltham (Waltham having been set 
off in 1738) applied to the General Court for a land grant for 
this purpose. Both of these applications were unavailing. 
They persevered from time to time to try to get assistance, and 
in 1752, their representative was instructed to join with the 
representative of Weston and Waltham in searching the 
Province records to find a grant of fifteen hundred acres of 
meadow; having thus proved their right to such a tract, to ask 
the General Court for an equivalent to it in some of the 
unappropriated lands belonging to the Province which might 
be applied for the rehef of the great burden relating to the 
bridge. It does not appear that the town ever obtained the 
fifteen hundred acres of meadow or the equivalent for which 
they petitioned, and probably help of the Provincial Govern- 
ment in maintaining the bridge was abandoned. 

"One incident in connection with the attempt at widening the 
bridge twelve feet, in 1784, was the authority of the General 
Court given to the Watertown Bridge Lottery, wherein the 
town pledged to indemnify and save harmless the managers. 
The scheme seems to have been a failure, and in 1791, the 
town chose a committee to look into the matter, and soon 
after, appropriated money to compensate for the losses. 

" In 1797 and 1798, Weston and Waltham petitioned to the 
Legislature to be liberated from the burden of caring for the 
bridge over Charles River, but these towns do not seem to have 



24 HISTORY OF WATERTOWN 

been then relieved. In 1801, arrangement was made with 
Weston and Waltham discharging them forever from any 
further expense in maintaining the bridge, those towns 
giving up to Watertown all the privileges in the fishery 
which were granted to them in common with Watertown in 
1798. 

" The coming year it is the purpose of the Committee on the 
Widening of Galen street, appointed by the town, to replace 
the old bridge by a new one which will probably be built of 
masonry in beautiful proportions, eighty feet in width. 

" The territory called Watertown at its early period was very 
large and its boundaries on the west for a long time undefined. 

" Now, our territory has narrowed down to small limits; our 
lands are fast being covered with dwellings; the census taken 
the present year shows a rapid increase in population." 

With this quotation, we must bring this historical sketch to 
a close. 

SOLON F. WHITNEY, 

Member of the Historical Society. 



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